Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence his Department had with (i) the Northern Ireland Office, (ii) the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure and (iii) Translink on the Union Connectivity Review Report between publication of that Report and the Government response.

As you will appreciate, most transport matters are devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. The UK Government’s Transport Ministers engaged with their counterparts when the Northern Ireland Executive was in place. In the absence of an Executive, officials have continued to liaise regularly with counterparts in the Northern Ireland Civil Service and Translink on the recommendations made by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill’s independent Union Connectivity Review. This resulted in the UK Government providing funding support for three rail connectivity studies in Northern Ireland. The Department for Transport also engaged regularly with the Northern Ireland Office at official and ministerial level to discuss UK connectivity matters.